What is Balance?
by TheLonelyRyuu
Summary: It's been a full year of nothingness since the Winter War with Aizen. Ichigo's bored out of his mind at home with his insane family. No powers, but then again, there was nothing to protect his friends from. And what about Rukia? Also, Ichigo realizes something about the balance of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. They cancel each other out, but what if they weren't there at all?
1. An Empty Life

**Ok so… Hi. I um… don't really know what to say. Just by clicking my story you have my thanks. I… I really hope you follow it the entire way. I'm starting with a shorter chapter just to try to catch everyone's interest, so don't complain since I explained it here. P-Please don't kill me if my writing sucks. Just tell me what I can do to improve….. And I would love a beta reader that doesn't ditch me. PM me if you want to beta for me :D**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, nope. I would love to own Bleach though.**

**Summary: ** It's been a full year of nothingness since the Winter War with Aizen. Ichigo's bored out of his mind at home with his insane family. No powers, but then again, there was nothing to protect his friends from. The only thing that was keeping him alive was the midget that lived in his closet. But what happens now when that is gone too?

* * *

**Chapter One: An Empty Life**

"_I will show you the final Getsuga Tensho."_

"Ugh." Ichigo groaned as he woke up to yet another day. _Did I make the right choice back then? _

He stared at his hand, that once held Zangetsu. _I'm sorry, old man. Seems like I won't see you again._

He barely noticed as he got off his bed, put on his clothes, and walked past the closet. _The closet… _He turned and stared at it for a few minutes. _Rukia… Ah, I'm so sentimental today._

The peace and quiet was ruined when a flying father blasted into the room.

"GOOOOOOD MORNING ICHIGOOO! DID YOU GET LAID-" Ichigo just stuck his fist out and Isshin slammed into it as he flew through the door.

"Owwwww…." Isshin whined on the floor. "You didn't have to hit me that hard…"

"You're the one who crashed into my fist, dumbass." Ichigo sighed and left the room.

"HEY! Never turn your back on your opponent!" Isshin leaped up and tried to tackle Ichigo from behind but Ichigo just slammed the door in his face.

"Good morning Ichi-nii, I made you breakfast!" Yuzu said happily as Ichigo came down the stairs.

"You wake up too early Yuzu." But he didn't complain when he saw the delicious food laid out on the table.

Karin walked over and asked, "How is the old man? We could hear you killing him from down here."

"Same as usual." _For the past year. _"He'll be down any second to attack me again. I better get going for school."

"Wait! Ichi-nii! What about my wonderful breakfast?" Yuzu cried.

Ichigo grabbed a slice of toast and headed out the door.

School was the same as usual. He sat in his chair as the teacher went over lectures and lessons. During lunch, Inoue hovered around him while he chatted with Ishida, Chad, and his usual group of friends. _Without Rukia._

In the afternoon, Ichigo watched as Ishida would suddenly jump up and say, "Bathroom, be right back!" and Chad and Inoue would follow him with the same excuse. Not that Ochi-sensei cared at all.

When school ends, he would walk home by himself, sometimes with Inoue when she really wanted him to walk her home.

As Ichigo got home his dad attacked him like usual, and he went upstairs to study until dinner.

Dinner usually was very quiet other than the fact Isshin would rant about some small perverted thing with food spurting out of his mouth.

Then, Ichigo would just lie on his bed until he fell asleep.

By himself.

Alone.

It was the same thing day after day, but his friends were safe and everything was peaceful. It was like a normal life. _But is that what I want? _Ichigo would always think.

But recently he had been having a series of dreams, mainly about his sword and his old shinigami powers.

**Flashback**

"_Hey Ichigo." It's old man Zangetsu! "Do you miss your powers?"_

_Silence._

"_Do you want your powers back?"_

_More silence._

"_If you do, head to the street right outside your school at 7:00… You will realize what you have been hiding from everyone else and yourself for this past year."_

**End Flashback**

"What the hell… hiding stuff from myself? You've got to be shitting me." Ichigo murmured to himself.

Regardless, at 7:00 at night in front of the school, a certain orange haired teenager leaned on a post as he watched the streets. There was a little girl running away from her mother who was chasing her like it was a game.

"What a waste of time… Psh, I'm leaving."

He had just turned his back when he heard a scream. Ichigo turned back and saw the girl running across the street. He managed to make out the headlights coming forward fast.

"No!" Ichigo sprinted and he managed to shove the girl out of the way just when the truck slammed into him.

The truck barely stayed upright as it drove on, careening sideways into the school fence with a loud crash.

Things seemed to quickly flash by for Ichigo…

The girl was crying as her mother hugged her tightly. Ichigo was glad she was alright, but he couldn't feel his body anymore…

"Shit *cough* *cough* I'm dying, shit." One of his ribs was protruding through his chest as he lay in the middle of the street.

"Thank you." The woman was there kneeling beside him.

"Th-There's no need. I'm glad your daughter is alright." Ichigo managed to smile before he fell back and everything went black.

"I'm sorry. . . everyone." As his voice died away.

* * *

**A/N: Ok done with the super short chapter. Did it catch your interest? If it didn't, please tell me how I can improve and don't stop reading my story! I'd be super sad even if I wouldn't know… See ya all.**


	2. The Black Sun Rises

**A/N: Ok I'm happy that at least some people read my story. I was going to write this story just for myself, but my friend told me about this place so… that's where we are now. I would love it if my story got some favorites though. I will never abandon this story unless something major happens, so even if there is a long wait for the next chapter, don't give up on my story! My chapters are going to be 3000 words+ from now on though. Enjoy the first long chapter :D**

**Thanks to TheHedgehog22 for being my first reviewer**!

**And also thanks to my first fav, Deathrider25**!

**Also, I forgot to mention that this story is AU. You should still go and read the actual Bleach manga!**

**Disclaimer: PSSH. I wish.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Black Sun Rises

Beautiful butterflies of black and yellow color flew in different directions throughout Soul Society.

"Alert! This is Captain Commander Yamamoto! All Captains are required to gather at the meeting hall! All captains are required to gather at the meeting hall!"

When all the captains were gathered, Yamamoto began his orders. "There has been an explosion of extreme reiatsu in Karakura Town. I need people to get down there and investigate it."

All the captains made excuses to not go to that hellhole of a town.

"I have a meeting with the other noble families." Byakuya said.

Shunsui lowered his hat and murmured, "I must deal with trouble in my squad."

Ukitake smiled at them before saying, "I am too sick to go, but I will be happy to send Kuchiki Rukia in my place. She knows the place well."

"Allow me also to go, Commander." Hitsugaya said as he stepped forward.

"IT IS DECIDED! CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA WILL ACCOMPANY KUCHIKI RUKIA TO KARAKURA TOWN IN THE LIVING WORLD!"

"Jeez, no need to yell, we're standing right here." Soifon whispered over to her lieutenant.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Nothing, Commander!" Soifon turned away so he wouldn't see her snicker.

* * *

"What? Where the hell am I? If this is Soul Society, then I have to congratulate Yamamoto for this beautiful place I got as my house." Ichigo said as he looked around the blackness, unable to see anything at all.

"You aren't dead yet, Ichigo." Zangetsu materialized out of nowhere as Ichigo stood up on… on what?

Ichigo laughed as he said, "You've got to be kidding me, Zangetsu. I don't even have a heartbeat anymore." He felt his chest and there was nothing.

"This is your Inner World, Ichigo. It's what it became after you lost your powers. When you 'died', your soul let out a huge amount of reiatsu as what remained of your inner world was destroyed. Also, just because your body is destroyed doesn't mean your soul can't exist, Ichigo. " Zangetsu shifted his position as he continued, "Your Chain of Fate was cut, therefore no longer binding your soul to your body. That way, even if your body is destroyed, you can still live, like right now. However, there are a couple things you need to worry about. First is… You will no longer have an Inner World."

Ichigo jaw-dropped at all this information. "So then why did you make me come to this street to 'die'? How did this help me at all?"

"Before I explain all that, let's get out of here, shall we?" Zangetsu jumped forward and pushed Ichigo out of the void.

"Wait! What are the other things!" A bright light blinded him as everything seemed to zoom towards one point...

* * *

Rukia looked around as she arrived in the Living World. _Strange... There is no one here. Wait a moment… This is Ichigo's school!_

Hitsugaya also inspected the surroundings. "What is that sound?"

Rukia listened for a second before racing towards the sound and replying, "That's what humans call an ambulance! Something probably happened over there!"

When they arrived at the scene, there was an ambulance and two police cars. A crowd of people were gathering around one spot on the street while a woman holding a child sobbed on the sidewalk.

"Let's go listen to them and see if we can figure anything out."

They stood next to the kneeling woman as she explained everything to the policeman next to her. "That man… H-He saved my darling. My d-daughter would have been killed, but he ran there and shoved her out of the way of the t-truck. It ended up as him getting hit by the truck, and-and-" The woman broke down in tears.

Rukia looked towards the crowd as she wondered who could be such a hero. When a policeman moved the crowd to the side, she saw the man being carried towards the ambulance in a stretcher.

It was Ichigo.

"Damn bastard, gave his life for someone he didn't even know!" Hitsugaya exclaimed behind her.

Rukia just fell to her knees, stunned. Ichigo was… dead? It couldn't be right. There had to be a way out of this, but in her heart she knew that there wasn't.

Rukia couldn't believe it. Ichigo, who had rescued her from execution in Soul Society, saved her countless times in Hueco Mundo, and killed Aizen, was dead a couple meters in front of her. Now she would never be able to pay back all the debts that she owed him…

The tears seemed to fall by themselves as she stared at the crowd of people. She had to get a closer look. She just had to.

She stood on the air above the crowd, staring down as her tears fell on to his body. His face was so calm, he was even smiling! _Looks like he died happily…_

"We should get back. I'm guessing the reiatsu explosion was from when he died…" Hitsugaya said quietly.

Rukia wiped her tears away turned away. She wasn't going to show weakness in front of a captain. "Yeah… Let's go."

* * *

Ichigo had only been gone for a half hour, but his body and all the blood was already gone from the street. The ambulance and police probably cleared it up.

Ichigo looked around. He was back in his Shinigami uniform, except that it was mostly tattered and he wore a white kimono underneath it. His sword was nowhere to be seen though.

"I have my powers back! Wait… What about my body?"

"Ah, about that, you can no longer use it as a host body. You might as well let them bury it." Zangetsu stepped forward, materialized in the living world.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "So, I'm basically dead since I'm just a soul roaming around randomly without a host body?"

"Er, no. You can still 'die' one more time before you truly die and lose all your memories. Don't waste your lives though." Zangetsu explained back.

Ichigo was about to ask another question but a voice beat him before he could speak.

"Hey King. Miss me?" Hollow Ichigo materialized in front of him, holding the Zangetsu that was once Ichigo's.

Ichigo stepped back in surprise.

Zangetsu quickly stood between them as he said, "Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Since you no longer have a Inner World, we have been let out into the real world. Also, your reiastu will also be extremely different than before, since it no longer has our traces in it."

"Is there any way to store you guys back into myself again?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, there is, but it will require a lot of reiatsu and willpower. Also, it will take a bit of time for you to rebuild your Inner World. However, you are not ready for this yet, so I would suggest keeping us out for now."

Ichigo frowned as he said, "But what will I do about him?" Pointing to the Inner Hollow next to him, "He's not just gonna roam around with me peacefully. And I need my sword back."

Zangetsu sighed. "You guys will have to make a temporary peace treaty for now. We don't have enough time to fight over this. The Soul Society is probably coming to investigate the enormous explosion of reiatsu when you died. I wanted to tell you that I brought your powers back even at this cost because I hated watching you in pain Ichigo. I hated watching you destroy yourself from the inside while you couldn't protect those around you. So, now that I've explained that, the last thing is… Now that you have used the final form of Getsuga, it is considered as you have 'mastered' it. You will now be able to use that technique freely."

Ichigo, surprised, turned to his hollow, holding his hand out and saying, "Hey, I know you don't want to, but if we fight right now, we'll just get caught by Soul Society. Here's my offer, I let you out once in a while in Hueco Mundo and you can have whatever fun with the stuff in there. However, you have to use Zangetsu to purify them and you can absolutely not eat them. All that just in return for you listening to me. How does that sound?"

His hollow smirked before shaking his hand and replying, "It's a deal, but don't expect it to last long."

"It wasn't supposed to."

* * *

Rukia tried not to cry and collapse in front of the all the captains. She bit her lip as she continued her report, "Apparently, Ichigo Kurosaki was killed in the Living World by a car."

"A car? Should we go destroy the car?" Mayuri asked.

"No, it is merely a way of transportation. It was … just an accident." Rukia replied.

The commander thought about this and announced, "Since it is an accident of human cause, we have no reason to wipe anyone's minds. However…" He hated to say this, but that disrespectful Shinigami deserved it, "He saved us all more than once. He made us realize inner treason. He inspired us all to improve. Let all of Soul Society mourn the man who is no more, Ichigo Kurosaki. Please tell this to your individual divisions."

But none of the captains wanted to. Though the captain commander didn't, most of Soul Society all admire Ichigo Kurosaki as the hero of the war with Aizen.

But Ukitake was sure that Rukia was taking this news the hardest. He knew that Ichigo and Rukia had gotten closer than any of them had wanted to in all the hardships they've been through. It seemed like she was even more depressed than when Kaien-fukutaicho died. Ukitake just hoped that she could make it through this and go back to her normal self.

He watched as Rukia walked over to him. "Captain, I-I need to go rest a bit. I-"

Ukitake interrupted before she could continue, "Shouldn't you be going to his funeral?"

"Oh right… I will. Are you giving me permission to go?"

"Yes. You should probably go now to ask his family and friends when it will happen." Ukitake said.

"Right… I'll be going then."

"Goodbye."

Rukia bit her lip again before turning and walking away with no energy at all.

_You better take care of her, Byakuya. _Ukitake thought before heading towards his division.

* * *

Inoue was thinking about how to impress Kurosaki-kun tomorrow at school when the doorbell rang. _Who could it be right now?_

She opened the door and gasped. _Policemen! What could they possibly be here for!_ She hid her surprise as she said, "Good evening officers! How may I help you?"

"Are-Are you Inoue Orihime?" They were surprised by the size of her chest.

"Yes. Again, how may I help you?"

The two men tried not to stare at her oversized breasts as they fought over who should tell her first.

"I'm still here you know." Inoue said, a bit annoyed and worried.

"Well, we came here to tell you that-" One officer began.

"-your good friend Ichigo Kurosaki-" Another officer continued.

"-had a car accident today and is dead." The beginning officer finished.

Inoue stared at them in horror before leaning on the door frame for support. _Kurosaki-kun… Dead? I-I can't believe it…_

One of the policemen reached forward and helped Inoue steady herself. "We are very sorry. Have a good night, Orihime-san."

They closed the door for her and headed to their next destination, Ishida Uryu's house.

The first policeman sighed as he walked with his friend. "This really is a hard job isn't it?"

"Yeah. Why did we volunteer again?"

"Cause you felt bad for the dead man who did something heroic."

"Right." The second officer said.

They arrived at Ishida's house at 9:00 exactly.

'DING DONG!'

Ishida opened the door only to stare at the two policemen. "I'm Ishida Uryuu, how may I help you two?"

"I got it." The second policeman whispered. "Your friend, Ichigo Kurosaki, died tonight in a car accident."

_Ichigo, dead? The two words just don't seem to belong together… _Ishida thought as he said stonily. "Thank you. Have a good night." Then he slammed the door in their faces.

"He sure took it well." The first policeman commented.

"Yeah. Look, we're at Sado Yasutora's house now." The other policeman stared up at the apartment building.

"I'll say it this time."

'Ding Dong!'

The door opened and Chad stepped into view. "Hey guys, how can I help you?"

"You're Chad Yasutora, correct?" Continuing when Chad nodded, "Your friend, Ichigo Kurosaki, has died in a car accident today."

Chad stared at them for a few seconds before laughing a deep throated laugh. "You guys are funny, nice one."

"This is a serious matter, here is my ID." The first policeman pulled out his wallet and showed it to him.

Chad just laughed again before closing the door.

The two policemen just stood there, stunned. "He really didn't believe us."

"Yeah. Should we convince him?

Nah, prepare yourself anyways. The next one is going to be the hardest…"

"Yep. His family."

They arrived at the Kurosaki family clinic depressed and tired out.

'Ding Dong!'

"I'll get it!"

"No, I got it."

"Both of you move! Let your papa answer the door!"

The policemen could here muffled voices from in the house, but what surprised them the most was when the door flew open and a crazy Isshin jumped out at them yelling, "WELCOME BACK ICHIGO!"

Luckily, he caught himself before hitting them, realizing it wasn't Ichigo.

"Sorry about that officers. What can I do for you?"

The officers looked sadly at him and Isshin seemed to know right away.

He looked back and said, "Yuzu, Karin, you guys better come listen to this too."

When they got to the door, Yuzu was staring worriedly at the police officers while Karin just grumpily leaned against the door frame.

"Your family member, Ichigo Kurosaki, has died today in a car accident." The police officers said at the same time.

Of course, the family had many different reactions all at once.

Yuzu began to cry and ran forward to hug one of the policemen to thank them for telling her.

Karin just said, "Just like the idiot to get himself killed." Before she walked back into the house.

Isshin just stared at them and said softly, "Thank you for telling us. Have a good night."

The door shut with an ominous bang.

"This job sucks."

* * *

Ichigo stretched his arms as he asked, "So what do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious, King? We go kill everybody!" Ichigo's Hollow said.

Ignoring him, Zangetsu stated his opnion. "You should probably get a reiatsu hiding gigai. The Soul Society aren't going to stop investigating large sources of reiatsu. You might also need to change your identity since you are supposed to be dead right? You can't just go around as Ichigo anymore. Oh and we are going to need a place to live."

"What about me?" The hollow asked. "I still look like Ichigo."

"You should know that you can just change to the look of an Arrancar or something." Zangetsu sighed. "Besides, your reiatsu and my reiatsu simply can't be sensed by humans. I myself can just turn into my final Getsuga form and no one will recognize me as Ichigo's zanpaktou. Sadly, I won't have the Getsuga powers though."

"Right, I know the perfect place. Urahara's shop."

The shop was closed when they arrived at the door. Ichigo fixed that when he broke down the door and the sign flipped to 'OPEN' while the door fell to the floor.

"What's all this racket?" Urahara appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh it's just you Kurosaki-san. What can I do for you?"

"Um… You aren't surprised that I'm alive?" Ichigo asked, bewildered.

Urahara smirked and said, "Nope. Knew all about it. Now are you going to ask me for your gigai and a place to live?"

Man, it was scary how much the shopkeeper knew all the time. In less than ten minutes, Ichigo was in a gigai with long black hair, an average face and height. In fact, the only thing he kept about himself was his eyes, nose, and mouth. It still didn't even look close to what Ichigo looked like. Zangetsu was worried about the eyes giving him away, but Urahara just fixed that by making the bangs hang over his eyes.

"You don't look all that bad." Hollow Ichigo said.

Ichigo turned to look at him. He had sharp bones going down his face like lines, with brown hair. It looked more Shinigami than Arrancar though.

Zangetsu simply looked like the professional assassin in the final form of Getsuga.

"Now I'll show you where you'll live." The shopkeeper said as he walked to a door at the back of the shop.

Ichigo opened his new mouth, humorously asking, "You can actually live in this dump?"

"That's offensive. You should respect those who are helping you, Kurosaki-san."

There were three mats on the floor of the relatively small room.

"You'll be sleeping here tonight. Have a good rest!" Urahara said a little too cheerfully before leaving the room.

"Zangetsu, I have one last question, I'm still going to need a sword." Ichigo said.

Before Zangetsu could reply, Ichigo's hollow threw him Zangetsu. "Take it. I don't need it anyways." He formed his new Arrancar sword and hung it at his waist.

Ichigo was speechless. It was the first time his hollow had shown any courtesy to him at all. "Um… Thanks?"

"Don't mention it." The hollow turned away, a little embarrassed by his own action.

"Well, let's all get a good sleep." Ichigo said before lying down.

"Why?" Zangetsu was curious despite himself.

"We're going to Soul Society tomorrow." Ichigo smiled at the thought of seeing Rukia again before falling asleep.

* * *

**A/N: So how didya like that? Only 3 reviews, 2 favorites, and 7 followers for my first chapter? I feel doomed... I have also realized there are a couple other stories out there that also have Ichigo saving someone from a car and getting hit by it. My story did come after theirs, but I can promise you all that I didn't not copy the idea. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
